Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Four in 10 Tea Party members are either Democrats or Independents, according to a new national survey.

The findings, first reported in The Hill, offer one of the most detailed looks so far at the conservative grassroots movement that started last year.

According to three national polls by the Winston Group, a Republican-leaning firm that conducted the surveys on behalf of an education advocacy group:

The national breakdown of the Tea Party composition is 57 percent Republican, 28 percent Independent and 13 percent Democrat.

Two-thirds of the group call themselves conservative, 26 are moderate and 8 percent say they are liberal.

Tea partiers are united around two issues – the economy/jobs and reducing the deficit. They believe that cutting spending is the key to job creation and favor tax cuts as the best way to stimulate the economy.

61 percent of Tea Party members believe infrastructure spending creates jobs. Moreover, given the choice Tea Party members favor 63-32 reducing unemployment to 5 percent over balancing the budget.

The group has a favorable view of the GOP generally but that drops from 71 to 57 percent if they’re asked about Congressional Republicans.

Congressional Democrats are viewed very unfavorably by 75 percent of Tea Party members. An overwhelming 95 percent said, “Democrats are taxing, spending, and borrowing too much.”

Over 80 percent of Tea Party members disapprove of the job President Barack Obama is doing as president, whereas 77 percent of Republican respondents said they disapprove of Obama.